Circularly Polarized Luminescence from Chiral p-Terphenylene-Based Supramolecular Aggregates

Main observation and conclusion Circularly polarized luminescent (CPL) materials with intense emission and high luminescence dissymmetry factor (g(lum)) are highly desirable for their promising applications in communication technologies, nanotechnologies, innovative materials, etc. Motivated by benefits in supramolecular chemistry and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) materials for the development of advanced luminescent materials, herein, we report a new class of CPL-active AIE luminogens (AIEgens) by incorporating the p-terphenylene (TP) with chiral alkoxyl chains. Aggregation-induced emission and supramolecular chirality have been realized by hierarchical self-assembly of these TP cored coil-rod-coil molecules under the synergistic effect of pi-pi stacking, hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces. Helical nanofibers with length up to several microns and tunable handedness in different condensed states, such as in poor solvents, thin films and gel states are produced, which exhibit strong CPL signals (g(lum)) of ca. 10(-2) and fluorescence quantum yields up to 56.7%. The well-defined one-component self-assembly of AIEgens from a concise molecular design is expected to pave a general avenue to fabricate chiroptical materials with both strong emission and high g(lum), which would be practically important for advanced modern technologies.